Thursday, May 2, 2013

I've heard from a few people that they enjoyed Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo's recent piece, "God's New Home", in which he alleges that Gd is leaving synagogues because the people there no longer seek Him meaningfully, and that Gd prefers the company of people who aren't necessarily observing the letter of the law, but who are seeking Gd sincerely.

The author begins, "Lately, a strange feeling has gotten hold of me. I am not yet able to
fully articulate it, but something tells me that God is relocating to a
different residence. He has hired a moving company and they are at this time loading all His
furniture and possessions into a van and awaiting His instructions as to
the destination. The truth is He’s been thinking for a long time about
moving but has not yet done so because we, in our ignorance, are still
busy visiting His old home, completely blind to the fact that the
curtains have been taken down, most of His furniture has already been
removed, and He is standing in the doorway, dressed in His jacket and
ready to go. He nevertheless listens to us, smiling and feeling sorry
for us that in our utter blindness we still believe we are sitting
comfortably in His living room, chatting and having coffee with Him,
while in fact He is sitting on the edge of His chair, gazing longingly
at the door, dreaming of His new home.
Synagogues – whether Orthodox,
Conservative or Reform – are no longer His primary residence. Surely
some of the worshippers are pious people who try to communicate with
their Creator, but overall, the majority of these places have become
religiously sterile and spiritually empty." And so on.

Of course this sentiment resonates with people, but frankly, I'm disappointed by the piece and feel it it unworthy of its author, for a few reasons:
1. The cynicism about Jews in synagogues strikes me as adolescent, unsophisticated; anyone who spends a few minutes speaking with people in a meaningful way quickly discovers that few hearts are so neatly monochromatic;

2. The idea that I can read Gd's mind and know whether He prefers the law or the heart is silly; it's populist and popular, but hardly reasonable. Now, can I read the mind of Judaism? Certainly, we can cite Biblical and Rabbinic sources on both sides - but why presume to take sides, and write an essay without citing a single source in support of your position? The author brings numerous sources in a footnote to support his claim that the world is not 5800 years old, which is fine with me - but why does he not bring Yirmiyah and Yeshayah or the talmudic הקב"ה ליבא בעי or anything at all to support his argument that Gd resents soulless service?

3. The article's theme is presented as new, when in fact it is ancient. The problem of soulless service was grey-bearded even when Rabbi Eliezer wrote in a mishnah, "One who makes his prayer rote - his prayer is not an acceptable plea." It is in Tanach itself; open up Yeshayah 1, for example. Why pretend to be discovering anything here, "Lately"?

There is a real problem of staleness, as there has always been a real problem of staleness, and not only in Judaism but in all religion which is formalized and passed from one generation to the next. But let's address it, let's struggle with it, let's overcome it, with substance.

11 comments:

No doubt prayer in general needs a spiritual boost, but blanket accusations by someone who, like us all, lacks the big picture, bother me. I get the impression from this and other writings that R' Lopes Cardoso wants to radically restructure traditional Judaism, feeling that it (itself, not only individuals) has gone off the track.

I get the feeling that Rav Cordozo is paraphrasing several of the opening chapters of Yechezkel. When the book opens we get a vision of the Merkavah in the Kodesh Kodashim. Then we get several examples of how, while the Temple service was being legally carried out the people were open idolators in the Temple itself. Then we have the second vision of the Merkavah leaving the Temple and the Yerushalayim step by step.Perhaps that's what Rav Cordozo is referring to. How much of our davening, from left to right, is genuine outreaching to God and how much of it is a ritual behaviour designed to stimulate a personal sense of spirituality or "Well I've done my obligation today"?

Bob, I don't think Rav Cardozo has such powers but it is quite evident that this is a problem facing some congregations, on a far larger scale than we'd like to acknowledge. All I'm suggesting is that he's using Yechezkel's imagery to make his own point.

At least R' Cardozo settled the issue of whether God wears a jacket or not. The next piece might tackle the hat issue. [meant as a joke]

More seriously, while I try to be self-critical (both as an individual and as a member of a community), I hope I don't ever take such a dim view of my own community or any other communities. I am sure I could --I know from experience how easy cynicism is to pull off-- but I don't want to. I try to assume that each community is full of genuine mevakshei hashem, and I realize that each individual and each community is necessarily imperfect. There may be lots of things that need work, but I refuse to change my overall view of who and what I see when I go to any shul.

I increasingly feel 'halakhic prayer by rote' vs. 'non-halakhic spirituality' is not really the point here. Religion is increasingly a counter-cultural force in the world and the type of people Rabbi Cardozo describes would never look for religion or spirituality in a shul, whether Orthodox, Conservative or Reform, because a shul is a product of the mainstream culture they want to escape. They would rather hold a small 'alternative' minyan of their own.

I find your reaction to be a classic frum knee-jerk reaction. I would recommend taking your own advice: instead of responding to R. Cordozo in a cynical and reactionary way you should actually start a dialogue with him. He is Israeli and, like most Israelis, accessible if you make the effort. His views are not as monochromatic as *you* paint them to be. Nor is he someone who wants to restructure Jewish observance or halakha. He is devoted to tradition and the integrity of practice. Rather, he wants to refocus the Jewish world on the religious experience of God the practice is supposed to engender and protect. He also wants to refocus it on the dynamic tension of the dialectical process as opposed to the strangely Christological dogmatism that has taken hold in the frum galut. Dogma is not authentically Jewish, and yet we live in a straight-jacket of it. Mere ritual observance is not sufficient for - or even an accurate measure - of a relationship with God. In that, he's absolutely correct. I would add, the Lubavitcher Rebbe eschewed the word kiruv saying "who is to say who is far and who is near (from God)." Its true. I've met traditional Jews who get it and streimel wearing Jews in buckle shoes who don't.